Alumna Dr. Leesa Beck appointed Director of Summer Sessions at UC Santa Barbara

Gevirtz School Alumna, Dr. Leesa Beck, has been appointed as Director of Summer Sessions at UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Beck will replace Dr. James Ford, another Gevirtz School Alumnus, who recently became Chief of Staff for the Division of Academic Planning at UC Berkeley.

Since 2006, Dr. Beck has worked in the Registrar’s Office, serving as University Registrar since 2012. Her achievements include leading the office through numerous successful systems implementations, including Student Information System conversion, electronic transcripts, online courses, student services knowledgebase, and automated course waitlists, all while ensuring the integrity of student data, like records related to registration, grades, academic status, and graduation. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. from the Gevirtz School’s Department of Education in Educational Statistics and Measurement in 2016. Beck also has a M.B.A. in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University and a B.A. from Cornell University. As part of the Gevirtz School’s Fast and Curious lecture series in 2017, Dr. Beck presented the lecture “‘No High Fives in Registrar’: Enrollment Management’s Role in Undergraduate Student Success,” made viewable here.

Summer Sessions makes it possible for students to get a head start and to make progress toward their degree year-round, with financial aid and housing available. During seven sessions of varying length (from the end of June to mid-September), Summer Sessions offers over 600 courses, including online courses, and works with faculty and departments to develop unique learning experiences in special courses and programs well suited to the summer term. Each year, they welcome 9,000 students to UCSB for Summer Sessions.